Kingfish do it again!

On Sept. 27, the Kaisers-lautern Kingfish swim team hosted four other teams from across Europe at the Ramstein Aquatic Center.  The Kingfish once again swam away with the victory, beating the Wiesbaden Wahoos, Lisbon Bullsharks and Lakenheath Barracudas 1257-792-154-141.

“I am very happy with the swims today,” said head coach Karina Plocek. “There were so many outstanding ones it was hard to keep track.”

The Kingfish swam strong from the beginning, sweeping the medley relays in all age groups. Swimmers Kamrin Markus, 9; Robert Haas, 9; Jack Waibel, 10; Andrew Hendrickson, 10; Leomar Ayala, 10; and Jada Meade, 12, swam for four personal best times.  The Kingfish bookended the meet by sweeping the free relays at the end as well.

Ayala couldn’t help but inspire teammates, as he broke two Kingfish records. The first was the 200 individual medley, in which he reset Hendrickson’s old record of 3:16.678 with a new time of 3:10.83, and then set fire to the old record of 6:33.34 in the 400 meter freestyle set last year by his brother Gabriel with new time of 5:45.66.

Sam Grady, 8, got into the act as well, setting a new record in the 50 meter fly of 47.25. The team swam so well that now 42 Kingfish athletes have qualified for the European Forces Swim League Championships.

In time trials after the regular meet, the Kingfish also swam well, qualifying 24 swimmers for the EFSL Long Distance Championships, to be held in Lignano, Italy, at the end of November. With the season just getting underway, the Kingfish are looking forward to another strong season.